The Sphinx's Lair

12:05 AM

can "rear" mean "be on the receiving end of words"?

hm, "read" could work, though it's kinda tenuous

I did most of the maze, except for 2 squares, but it's already impossible for me to reach the end. I get the point now, though.

Deusovi

Same, but only one square for me.

phenomist

perhaps some clues can serve as double duty

Deusovi

...yes, that was the thing I was alluding to

without wishing to spoil

Eric Tressler

Yeah, the lower-right has a major example of that, I think

ffao

12:15 AM

well, see you guys at the finish line :P

Deusovi

Oh, I haven't gotten the one in the lower right yet. Go on?

if we're going ahead and spoiling, here's my progress: i.gyazo.com/22ac42bf968f55e14c79621a2ad2e721.png

ah, nicely done, ffao

Eric Tressler

I was alluding to Gur boivbhf QHAR cbffvoyl vafgrnq orvat OBAR, naq nyfb QBAG/JBAG.

@Deusovi I had everything the same as you, except N dhrfgvba znex ol YRNQ, naq V qvqa'g trg BNGU.

ffao

it pretty much had to be YRNQ, nothing else could connect to anything cleanly

I had a lot of trouble connecting that one in the first place

TheGreatEscaper

12:44 AM

Yay my fortnightly is 1/12 of the way done

Out of interest, are there any conveniently accessible stats on which fortnightlies were the most popular for puzzle writers?

stacksfiller

Good job, but you didn't understand the final answer!

>:}

Alconja

@TheGreatEscaper I think you'd have to do some SEDE data querying...

phenomist

at 35 fortnightlies i would expect manual collection to not be too hard

Alconja

Maybe not hard, but certainly boring. :)

Riley

1:02 AM

As a heads-up, I'm working on releasing a Barrel - Part 3 between 3:00-4:00 UTC (as with parts 1 and 2).

I don't know if I'll be able to make more, but the xkcd titles will allow me to make up to 5.

phenomist

i need to finish up my own thing

Riley

I think it would be really cool if other people try to make multi-part Fortnightlies. You could even make a meta-puzzle out of them.

phenomist

current puzzle status: unholy multipart (?) abomination

Dragonrage

ive been working on another puzzle, but it wont be a multipart one

TheGreatEscaper

Multipart abomination here too lol

Alconja

1:07 AM

data.stackexchange.com/puzzlingme/query/857980

^ entries per FTC

TheGreatEscaper

Oh, cheers!!

So this one’s on track for beating the record of 23

Alconja

Looks that way. It also has the benefit of being "first", which may influence things a little, but still undeniably a popular success.

Dragonrage

still want to see tag combination with logical-deduction lateral-thinking

Alconja

FWIW I've got another one in the wings that I'm hoping to get finished, so it sounds like there's at least 4 or so more unposted, just based on this chat thread.

Riley

are there any examples of that having been successfully implemented?

(referring to tag combination)

Alconja

1:13 AM

I want lateral-thinking to be nuked from orbit, but that's just me... :)

Dragonrage

@Riley dont think so. id be impressed if you could pull it off without a multipart puzzle

Alconja

113

Q: This is it. This is the one. Find your wife

If you have found her, maybe you could try saving her? You come home one day and find your wife is out. You open your computer and discover an email from her. To xxxxx, / Curiosity killed the cat, so whatever you do, please don’t come and find me. You need to save your energy for the k...

puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/…

Riley

@Dragonrage Did you mean that you want to see the tag combination in general, or as a future challenge?

ffao

@stacksfiller You give a rot13 spoiler for island and all I get is an emoticon? I see how it is

Dragonrage

tag combinations as a future challenge

stacksfiller

1:25 AM

yea huh

dont know why i did that

do you want me to say explicit/give a hint or whatever

stacksfiller

1:47 AM

@ffao

Well

I guess I can just spoil it

Guvf znl'f qbar ng zvqavtug. hayrff, vg'f nyernql qbar sbe lbh

ManyPinkHats

@Dragonrage please add it to the voting list; it's having a fresh supply of ideas that'll keep the FTCs running for as long as we can make them puzzling.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/6339/…

ffao

hmm, I considered homophones but not that one :/

phenomist

woo just finished the northwest corner

Dragonrage

2:22 AM

@ManyPinkHats there are two on there that are kind of similar to my idea. i will try and think of something unique but keeping with the theme i want to see

Sid

3:52 AM

@Riley There's one I saw recently.

Sphinx

0

Q: Barrel - Part 3

An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #35: Restricted Title 1. Title based on this xkcd. This is a continuation of Barrel - Part 1 and Barrel - Part 2, but this puzzle is still self-contained. Having excelled at your previous two barrel warehouse management jobs, you have been promoted to the ...

optimization

Sp3000

4:05 AM

orz Riley give me your puzzle writing speed

Riley

@Sp3000 With great power comes great responsibility

Deusovi

ooh, are you working on an FTC entry?

Sp3000

0.5/9, one week to go :/

ffao

5:36 AM

I think I'll be six months late again :D

John Dvorak

6:17 AM

With great power comes great amount of squarings and multiplications

Sphinx

8:13 AM

0

Q: Counter-Red Spiders

An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #35: Restricted Title 1. Title based on this xkcd.This puzzle contains hints for 220 black squares (but that's not the point) but is a standalone puzzle. The counter-red-spider offensive begins... We need your help to mount the counter-offensive against t...

cipher enigmatic-puzzle jigsaw-puzzle

Deusovi

8:29 AM

@Sphinx I don't mean to offend, but my first impression is that this seems tedious. The rotation already makes starting out difficult, and now you're including two different ciphers (from the decoding of the bottom), which mean we'll have to try all sorts of combinations of rotation + cipher before we get lucky enough to hit on the right one.

And I'm not sure there's anything interesting in this puzzle that you haven't already done in your previous one - the "tricks" seem the same, apart from the ciphers (which don't seem like they'll improve anything IMO - they generally don't).

M Oehm

(Technical question: When you answer to a particular post from the Sphinx, will the quoted question's OP be pinged?)

H Walters

Nope

M Oehm

I see. I don't ping much, but I wondered why Deus sounded like talking to the OP above.

H Walters

Dunno... people tend to do that; but I saw @Deusovi's comment

Mithrandir

8:48 AM

@MOehm It makes it obvious which question you're talking about.

M Oehm

Yes, but only to those in chat, no?

Mithrandir

Correct.

It provides a way to comment on a post without actually commenting.

@rubio puzzling.stackexchange.com/users/49728

And puzzling.stackexchange.com/users/49699/nba-finals-2018

H Walters

@Deusovi So it takes a lot of thought to formulate a reply, but, first off I'm not offended by far. I also was hoping the "ciphers" wouldn't be too hard, since I pretty much give it to you; it's more like two encodings... nevertheless, since it was you who worked on the other challenge, I take that seriously...

Deusovi

@MOehm It doesn't ping the OP, but he was in chat anyway. As Mith said, I'm "commenting" without actually commenting.

H Walters

Outside of that, I can certainly see how you can get that first impression... and that's about as much information as I'm comfortable giving in a chat

Deusovi

9:00 AM

@HWalters The issue isn't the difficulty of the ciphers but in guessing which one to use for which letters. I generally don't like ciphers in puzzles at all, because they make it much harder to confirm things for not much benefit, and puzzles with ciphers often devolve into "try all encoding methods until one works".

M Oehm

Yes, I missed the fact that H Walters was already there.

H Walters

Let's see... best I can do is say, I understand your concern

Deusovi

In my attempt at your other puzzle, that first word was a huge confirming step that I was on the right track, and even noticing that the four sides of a piece looked like they could form words was good. Here, I don't have edge pieces or even necessarily plain English words when the pieces are connected! So I'm left wondering how to start with this one.

Flavortext seems to imply that the pieces are in the right places (though possibly not oriented correctly) which helps a bit. Though that still makes 16 options for rotation, times 3 potential ciphers, and going through 48 options with no confirmation unless I stumble upon the right one does not sound like a fun time.

(In the last one, the symbols helped get things started a lot, since they had known orientations. Even with that though, it still took over an hour and a half to piece things together, and that's when the parts did spell words. In this one, from what I can tell, they don't. Or at least, no rotation of the bottom left tile looks to have more than one plausible word bit.)

H Walters

Ironically, the more you talk, the more comfortable I am with my puzzle

Absolutely no offense is intended by that

My biggest issue, as the puzzle designer, is that I don't want to try to give clues in the chat not available to the public... but some of the frustrating things you're noticing... might actually be clues. (I'm not encouraging you to work on it either; that's entirely up to you)

Deusovi

9:16 AM

Of course not. It's always possible -- even likely -- that I've missed something obvious. I'm just commenting on why your puzzle is really off-putting for me (...in order to put off actually transcribing 144 of these letters in up to 4 different rotations each).

The Masked Rebel

9:34 AM

@TreFox Can you give me a couple of hints to your puzzle. I'll try and solve it.

phenomist

i'm totally getting ready to be berated by deus for my FTC puzzle :P

it's more of a silly concept that's taking way too long to execute

H Walters

So, that might help

Deusovi

@phenomist oh, how's that going?

The Masked Rebel

Does anyone like this puzzle. If so, please put a bounty on this.

phenomist

"good", in that progress was made, but not necessarily good progress

counting up, i need to contrive something like 4 or 5 more modules

Deusovi

9:44 AM

@TheMaskedRebel If people are interested, they will. You've already brought it up multiple times in here. If the puzzle creator wants to give hints, they are free to.

"modules"? oh boy

Sid

I don't think I can complete a puzzle for this FTC. Lots of half-baked ideas but they don't seem to get conpleted

Deusovi

oh, I know that feeling all too well

phenomist

i'm forcing these half-baked ideas into the puzzle!

at any rate, i'm impressed that all of the titles have been so far unique

now, hoping that nobody takes my title before i finish

Deusovi

I'm impressed too. Surprising how so many of those titles can be used as prompts.

Sp3000

10:04 AM

I know this isn't anything new, and as a puzzle it's rather boring if you're not into anime, but I just wanted to say that I was really tempted to make this as puzzle for "A New CAPTCHA Approach" (but I won't)

Deusovi

pff

M Oehm

11:43 AM

@EricTressler FR (EEL<) ANCE

thecoder16

12:34 PM

oh hey i just realized i have a half finished puzzle

now that i know Puzzle Site Exists i'll look at it

Eric Tressler

12:50 PM

@MOehm That's right

Sphinx

0

Q: I am found in every country

I come in many colors and I am very thin I am found in every country, even in your home I am very important, you can be very creative with me I can even help you learn. What am I?

riddle

Sphinx

1:28 PM

0

Q: What is the answer to this math puzzle?

What is the answer to this math puzzle?

mathematics calculation-puzzle

Sphinx

2:20 PM

0

Q: The Royal Affair

This is a Normal Crossword. For the final answer, you will need to give me something that completes the "pattern". The pattern is for you to find out. And finally, I have given you the grid but no numbering(Can't make everything easy for you fellas). Across: Archaic British term meaning vulgar...

crosswords

Sphinx

3:17 PM

3

Q: I'm not a narcissist, I promise!

Mostly, I tell the truth, but I can sometimes lie, If you're skinny, fat, bald, or tall, I can tell you why. Reassurance is what you seek from me, though I'm not the best, Really, I can only look skin deep, I can't figure out the rest. Odd, I stand before you, trapped, never to e...

riddle rhyme

Sphinx

3:38 PM

1

Q: Ten users, ten deadly collars and three lights

One day, 10 puzzling.SE users, including you, find yourselves in a horrible prison. Each of you has a deadly collar, presently lethal. It is safe to take off only when all of the 10 collars have been unlocked, or you will all be dead. A supervisor shows up and tells you about a game that you hav...

strategy algorithm

Sphinx

4:05 PM

2

Q: I am found everywhere and yet nowhere

I am the posterchild for what the Buddhists believe yet they don't worship me My cycle is eternal yet death follows me Some see me as a wish granter and my opposite slumbers beneath If I cry for you, you will be relieved What Am I?

riddle

Sphinx

4:21 PM

3

Q: A horrible TV show

Yesterday I had lunch with my grandma and she told me about this pilot episode she saw in a local TV channel. She's a bit senile though, so she could not remember the name of any of the characters. Oh dear, what an ugly TV film I saw yesterday! There were these four weird characters living to...

riddle story

TreFox

4:37 PM

How high-level can the math required to solve a puzzle get before it's off-topic?

Even if the solution is really elegant using that math

Sphinx

0

Q: Alexander Hamilton Rap

From genius.com: “Alexander Hamilton” is a song released by Jack Douglass, better known by his Youtube channel name, Jacksfilms. He wanted to come up with the worst costume for Halloween 2016. His costume is made to depict “A guy dressed up as Alexander Hamilton who hasn’t seen the show ...

word humor

Sphinx

4:53 PM

2

Q: Riddle - I am a word of 5 letters

I am a word of five letters! People eat me! If you remove my 1 letter I will be a form of energy! If you remove my first 2 letters I will be needed for living. If you remove my first 3 letters I will be a preposition. If you remove my first 4 letters I will be a drink for you. Who am I?

riddle

Eric Tressler

@TreFox It's probably not something to worry about, as long as you feel that you have a puzzle, and not just a problem.

SKOG

5:20 PM

Trying to close off Royal Affair here. Got pretty much all the grid filled, but still trying to grok the pattern

Sid

@Sphinx This has to be a dupe but I can't find the relevant link

GentlePurpleRain

5:40 PM

@TreFox There are several mathematicians on this site, and some puzzle answers whose math I can't even pretend to understand, so as long as there's a good reason for it to be a puzzle, and not just a math problem, I don't think the level of math matters (although it will reduce your audience considerably if it can't be understood by most users).

SKOG

Alright, got a potential answer up for Royal Affair.

M Oehm

CCCC: Model must wash regularly – questionable reputation, but no signs of ruin (4, 6)

Sid

@SKOG Extremely close but no cigar, I am afraid

Sphinx

6:02 PM

3

Q: I am a fiery animal

Me, I am a fiery animal. My anagram goes up. My anagram's homophone will hurt your eyes.

riddle

Apep

@MOehm _U_T _A_H (TEAPOT[-ruin])* = UTAH TEAPOT (a 3d test model)

M Oehm

@Apep Yes, that's the one.

Apep

CCCC: Flatten misshapen pane with an expression of disgust regularly. (7)

M Oehm

(It's funny that you can remove "teapot" from a lot of words, anagram them and get other meaningful and not too obscure words: reputation \ ruin, presentation \ sinner, toothpaste \ shot, perpetuation \ unripe, temptation \ mint, extrapolate \ relax, computerization \ zirconium, ...)

Eric Tressler

6:20 PM

I really hope "expression of disgust regularly" isn't "s/co/wl" or something. I'm not prepared for regex cryptics.

John Dvorak

I'm awful at regular cryptics already, but I still suddenly yearn for regex cryptics... :P

Eric Tressler

@JohnDvorak out of an earnest desire for regex cryptics, or just casual spite?

John Dvorak

earnest desire

Eric Tressler

There's always alf.nu/RegexGolf , if you're not familiar with it

Apep

Now I'm tempted to end a cryptic with "perhaps." with a def of "wildcard".

Gareth McCaughan

6:26 PM

Not cryptic, but a (famous) regex crossword: i-programmer.info/news/144-graphics-and-games/…

(there may be other more canonical places to find that)

Sid

As in, when to use the tags..

(Just to confirm, did we ever decide what is trivia and what is knowledge?)

John Dvorak

There's a whole website dedicated to regex crosswords. Solved them already.

regexcrossword.com

Oh, nice, there are new puzzles since I last was there

Sphinx

6:50 PM

2

Q: You either love him or hate him

On my own, I am pale Add something soft and I put you in a hole Add something loud and I take off without fail Add something small and I insult a troll Add the first and I get off the rail Add the second and to spoil is my role.

riddle wordplay knowledge

Sphinx

7:14 PM

0

Q: If you think you know me, you don't

Settle arguments is my plight Tempted to see me? I'll likely die As it stands, this riddle has many answers Common of riddles, only one is right

riddle

1

Q: Snakes on a Plane! 2

An entry in Fortnightly Topic Challenge #35: Restricted Title 1. Inspired by the title of this xkcd comic. Snakes ... on a plane ... again ... This time 2 specimens of a huge unknown type of snakes swallowed a part of the passengers on a plane. Luckily the plane was able to land and all victi...